Jaws

One line review: Jaws is a horror movie that rises above it’s genre to become a classic.

Movie Title: Jaws

Actors: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, Susan Backlinie, Jonathan Filley

Director: Steven Spielberg

Year: 1975

Genre: Horror

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 100% – Compelling, well-crafted storytelling and a judicious sense of terror ensure Steven Spielberg’s Jaws has remained a benchmark in the art of delivering modern blockbuster thrills.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): It’s become obvious that horror will never be my favorite genre, but I can appreciate this film none the less. Jaws is the father of many classic moments of fear and shock. It also has the impressive ability to keep the tension up constantly, whether there’s a shark around or not. This movie doesn’t use gore and blood to get it’s scares, which guarantees it can stay fresh for years to come. The stars also manage to outshine the villian, which is a rare treat in most horror movies. A film that makes me reconsider what can be done in horror.

History of the World Part I

One line review: A handful of good jokes don’t make up for an overall boring film.

Movie Title: History of the World Part I

Actors: Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Gregory Hines, Pamela Stephenson, Shecky Greene, Sid Caesar, Mary-Margaret Humes, Orson Welles

Director: Mel Brooks

Year: 1981

Genre: Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 62% – Mel Brooks’ The History of the World: Part I contains plenty of belly-shaking laughs.

My rating: **

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): This film was at it’s best when it was doing short and small jokes at the beginning. As the film tries to expand more into something resembling a plot the jokes become fewer, more vulgar, and overall less original. This is a film where you barely even need the audio as almost everything is a visual gag, with 50% of the gags being racist, sexual, or religious. After a while you simply get tired of crappy jokes and want the film to end. There is no need to watch this film again, nor much need to watch it the first time.

Goldfinger

One line review: The classic Bond relies less on explosions and more on gadgets, but it’s Sean Connery that steals the show.

Movie Title: Goldfinger

Actors: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Harold Sakata, Bernard Lee, Martin Benson, Cec Linder, Austin Willis, Lois Maxwell, Bill Nagy

Director: Guy Hamilton

Year: 1964

Genre: Action

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – This 1964 entry is the most enjoyable of the James Bond thrillers starring Sean Connery — perhaps because it’s the most comic and cartoony in look as well as conception.

My rating: ***

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): This is the classic vision of Bond I had before I had watched any of the movies; a wise-cracking agent with tech gadgets, over the top villains, and one-liners after each death. It definitely makes the series seem less noble and serious, but the one thing that this Bond has over all the others is Sean Connery. Something about his mannerisms and grin makes him my favorite James Bond. I suppose my ideal movie would be in the serious Daniel Craig universe but with Sean Connery giving his one-liners to lighten the mood. It’s an okay film, with an awesome star.